As India emerges as a viable manufacturing hub for global companies, Studds Accessories is leveraging its dominance in the domestic market to build out a global helmet empire.
13 Nov 2025 | 4423 Views | By Shahkar Abidi
Zomato, India’s biggest food delivery company, had a problem: How do you get lakhs of delivery partners to wear helmets while on duty?
The challenge fell to Studds Accessories, India’s largest two-wheeler helmet maker. The initial solution seemed simple enough: provide riders with helmets equipped with a Bluetooth connection ...
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Zomato, India’s biggest food delivery company, had a problem: How do you get lakhs of delivery partners to wear helmets while on duty?
The challenge fell to Studds Accessories, India’s largest two-wheeler helmet maker. The initial solution seemed simple enough: provide riders with helmets equipped with a Bluetooth connection to their phones, ensuring real-time data flow to Zomato’s management. An electrical connection was embedded in the buckle, closing the circuit and signaling that the helmet was theoretically "worn".
But, in the land of shortcuts and jugaad, this solution often resulted in clever bypasses. Riders quickly learned that they could simply close the buckle and hang the helmet on the motorcycle’s handle while they drove.
Studds went back to the drawing board. They next integrated a proximity sensor in the front of the helmet, designed to detect if something (like a face) was nearby, signaling wear. Again, riders adapted, stuffing the helmets with cloth to fool the sensor while still driving unhelmeted.
It wasn't until Studds deployed a final, sophisticated solution, an accelerometer, that the system achieved reliability. This sensor detects the angle at which the helmet is being held; and if it's not parallel to the ground, it registers as not being worn. Today, 3,500 such smart helmets are deployed across Zomato’s fleet. "Now it's working perfectly," remarked Sidhartha Khurana, MD, Studds Accessories.
The incident encapsulates the shift transforming the traditional, manufacturing-heavy helmet industry at a time when Studds is hitting India’s equity market with an initial public offering. The company has structured the Rs 455-crore offering as a pure Offer for Sale (OFS), meaning the entire amount will go to existing shareholders and not to the company.
The company had earlier filed for an IPO in 2018, intending to raise approximately Rs 169 crore to fund two new manufacturing plants. However, it did not proceed with the plan due to muted market sentiment arising from the Pulwama attack at that time.
The Rally that Launched a Brand
The journey of Studds began far removed from accelerometers and proximity sensors, rooted instead in a simple, unmet market need in 1972.
Madhu Khurana, the founder, chairman, and managing director, recalls participating in a motorcycle rally in Lucknow. The event ground to a halt because of the lack of helmets among the participants. That stalled rally became the improbable launchpad for a global enterprise. A Rajdoot motorcycle distributor present told the young Khurana, "Why don't you make helmets? I will sell 50 helmets for you every month".
Khurana approached Rajdoot-manufacturer Escorts, which supported the idea, offering to sell the helmets on his behalf. He initially manufactured helmets under the Rajdoot brand for two-three years, before registering the company's own marquee brand, ‘Studds,’ in 1975.
The Studds story is also one of entrepreneurial grit and making a little money go a long way. Khurana, an aeronautical engineer who graduated in 1969, found job conditions for engineers poor and had ambitions to pursue further studies and work with NASA in the U.S.
His father, who worked in the government, offered him Rs 4,000 rupees in 1970, a choice between a ticket to the U.S. or starting a business. Khurana chose the business, initially starting with small plastic components before transitioning to helmets.
The business gained significant momentum with the arrival of the second generation. Khurana’s son, Sidhartha Khurana, also an aeronautical engineer, joined in 1999. The elder Khurana notes that if his son had not joined him, the company might not have reached its current stage. Later, around two years ago, Siddhartha’s daughter, Shilpa Arora, who holds a Bachelor's in Dental Surgery and an MBA, joined to head global sales, solidifying the company as a family-controlled business.
The Tech Evolution
For decades, the core challenge of helmet manufacturing revolved around materials science, making the shell strong and the inner liner effective. Today, while sophisticated material engineering, including the use of high-tech substances like carbon fiber and Xyloc (the material used in MotoGP and Formula 1 cars), remains paramount, the frontier is moving towards electronics.
Studds has been aggressive in this area, launching an electronics development department in 2021. Beyond the complex anti-tampering interlocks designed for clients like Zomato, the industry is incorporating significant safety and convenience gadgets. Studds already offers helmets with built-in Bluetooth for communication while riding. The company, as per the regulatory requirements, advises riders to stop to talk.
The next wave of technology, currently being pursued, includes camera technologies that allow riders to record their journeys, as well as integrated features like intercoms and Wi-Fi mesh systems.
Crucially, the industry is moving toward "smart" safety features: sensors embedded in the helmet that, upon detecting an accident, measure the impact force and can determine if the wearer is breathing. This technology then automatically sends an SMS notification to loved ones, marking a paradigm shift in protective gear from passive safety to active, linked life-saving equipment.
Studds maintains an extensive vertical integration strategy to ensure quality and control over these complex components. Key parts, such as the EPS (Expanded Polystyrene) or ‘Thermocol’, which serves as the helmet’s vital shock-absorbing layer, are manufactured in-house. They also handle their own in-house design (except for initial sketching, which is done by European design firms), tooling, visor coatings (anti-reflective, anti-fog, anti-scratch), assembly, packaging, and testing. "There are about 72 tests (for helmets)," noted the junior Khurana, emphasizing that many people don't believe it when told.
The Human Cost and Regulatory Push
Helmet companies are expanding into safety technology because India’s road safety record shows how badly it is needed. Road accidents represent a major public health crisis, and the absence of helmet use is the single largest contributing factor for fatalities. Each year, approximately 70,000- 75,000 road deaths in India are attributed to riders not wearing helmets. This figure represents roughly half of the total 1.5 lakh people who die in road accidents annually.
Despite the country being the largest two-wheeler market in the world, the average helmet penetration rate is 0.6 per biker, compared to the global average of 1.52 per biker. This massive gap represents a key growth opportunity for the organized industry, the Khuranas pointed out.
In response to this human tragedy, government regulatory bodies have increased enforcement and mandates. A regulation in 2016 required two-wheeler manufacturers to ensure that a helmet be bundled with each new two-wheeler, a rule now implemented in nine states, including Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Gujarat.
The most recent push, signaled by a draft notification in June 2025 (expected to take effect January 1, 2026), mandates that two helmets must be supplied with every new motorcycle purchase. This initiative aims explicitly to boost safety for pillion riders and is expected to provide a significant boost to the industry, effectively doubling the supply required for new vehicle sales into the same household. "There is a lot of push from the regulatory bodies as well to ensure that these road deaths should come down," Sidhartha explained.
Manufacturing Might and Market Dynamics
Studds currently operates four manufacturing facilities, all strategically located in close proximity in Faridabad. The combined annualized manufacturing capacity for two-wheeler helmets and boxes stands at 9.04 million units. In FY25, the utilization rate for these facilities was 86.6%, translating to annual sales of approximately 7.40 million helmet units.
To support future growth, particularly in exports and the premium segment, Studds is expanding rapidly. Manufacturing Facility V is currently under construction and slated for completion and commissioning in the current financial year. This new facility is designed to add an incremental 3 million units of capacity, rolled out in two equal phases of 1.5 million units each over 1.5 years.
While the company is focusing on automation in departments like painting and injection molding, fundamental processes like stitching, graphic application (water transfers), and final assembly will remain heavily reliant on labor.
The company maintains a dual-brand portfolio: Studds, which targets the mass and mid-market segments (MRP range Rs 875– Rs 4,000), and SMK, their premium brand launched in 2016, catering to the higher-end market (MRP range Rs 3,000– Rs 12,800).
In the competitive Indian landscape, Studds dominates the organized sector alongside two primary rivals: Vega and SteelBird. These three brands occupy most of the organized space. For the sake of context, Studds commands around 25.5% in terms of value share in the domestic market and about 27.3% in terms of volumes.
The Indian market is estimated to be about $300 million in size, with roughly 3 crore helmets sold annually. Critically, the market is consolidating rapidly, moving from unorganized to organized, with the organized share now standing at approximately 80%.
Furthermore, premiumization is accelerating, driven by increasing disposable income and growing aspirations, particularly in the motorcycling community. Riders are now spending about 2% of the cost of their motorcycle on a helmet, driving demand for premium products and accessories. Globally, the two-wheeler power sports segment is a vast $2 billion industry. Studds is already established as the global leader by volume, claiming a 10.6% global market share.
In addition, India is rapidly emerging as an export hub, a trend that Studds is capitalizing on. While the global helmet market is growing at a CAGR of 5-6%, Indian helmet exports are surging at a CAGR of 21%, a clear indicator of the manufacturing shift driven by cost advantages and reliability, often cited under the 'China Plus One' strategy. "That's a big, big difference.
"That's where a lot of movement, whether white labeling or own brands, is coming in," Sidhartha continued, before highlighting that his company already exports to more than 70 countries and manufactures for leading global brands such as Daytona.
Global market expansion remains a core component of Studds’ future strategy, targeting the $2 billion market. Last year, Studds’ export revenue was about $11 million, a "drop in the ocean," according to the management. The company plans to implement a distributor-direct approach in key foreign markets, exemplified by the recent acquisition of Bikerz US Inc.. The strategy aims to shorten the typically long 60-day fulfillment cycle (30 days manufacturing, 30 days transit) by holding inventory closer to the customer, enabling two-day delivery and immediate market responsiveness. Studds is also eyeing strategic expansion into untapped markets like Vietnam, Peru, and Egypt.
Domestically, a major push will be dedicated to the online sales channel. Although online sales historically constituted a small percentage of revenue due to a focus on the traditional brick-and-mortar distributor network (which accounts for 58.4% of sales), the digital segment is now deemed significant.
Finally, Studds intends to expand its product portfolio beyond traditional helmets into two-wheeler accessories and lifestyle products. These segments, which include two-wheeler apparel, luggage, gloves, and sporting helmets (including bicycle helmets) represent additional addressable markets, each estimated to be worth approximately a billion dollars.